There’s A Secret Brewing In Brooklyn

At first glance, that word may call to mind an image of “amber waves of grain”. This may explain why I never would have expected to find a gluten-free meal at a Heartland Brewery…but, as it turns out, there are several surprises to be found inside this New York City oasis for thirsty travelers.

Yesss! The Midtown West location of Heartland Brewery has been certified by GFRAP and now has a menu with gluten-free symbols on it! Uh huh, the place that my brother and I went to so he could enjoy his punctual beer break from our sightseeing, now offers respite for the hungry, weary and gluten-free! You now can even kick back a gluten-free beer while enjoying your gluten-free grub at this relaxed and cozy super-sized pub!

After meeting with the owner and management, my first surprise was finding out that they are a fresh prep kitchen, which means they make their food from scratch. This process allowed them to easily analyze ingredients and discover what was or wasn’t gluten-free.

Another nice surprise was discovering that their hamburger meat comes from Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, the rock star butchers that supply meat to some of the cities most popular restaurants, such as The Spotted Pig, Shake Shack, and Primehouse. In fact, Nick Solares, of A Hamburger Today, voted Heartland’s HB Burger one of NYC’s best burgers! He should know! Prior to hearing this praise, I tried one and loooved it! Not only was the presentation nice with the carnivore’s delight neatly wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves, it was super juicy, flavorful and delicious! The secret? The mix has dry aged beef in it. (And if you don’t know about dry aged beef, go treat yourself to some ASAP. This topic alone could be a whole other blog post. Short story, it’s primo.)

Want some Buffalo chicken wings? Yum!

Here’s a close-up

Mmm…Hickory Smoked BBQ St. Louis Ribs…such a manly meal!

Stick a fork in this! Gluten-Free Fusilli with Grilled Chicken

I think Rainbow Man might get excited by this Cobb salad after a few…beers. “Whoa! It’s so beautiful!”

Not a beer drinker? How about some classy mussels and a glass of wine?

Oh, and if you have any beer snob friends that aren’t gluten-free tagging along with you, they’ll appreciate the Brooklyn brewed, not-so-gluten-free, hand crafted Hefewiezen. My beer glugging brother Tim, from Portland, Oregon sampled some of Heartland’s and gave it a thumbs up!! He was impressed that it was made the traditional way. Evidently, some brewers claim to brew a Hefewiezen, but it isn’t the real deal. *gasp* Of course, we were impressed to find out they use Oregon Hops and the brewmaster’s name happens to be Kelly. Who knew?!

And I have a secret to spill: [drumroll] Heartland’s almost ready to launch its very own…locally brewed in Fort Greene…..guess?! Gluten-free beer!!! Whoo Hoo! It should be available in April. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

So, go wet your whistle at the Midtown West Heartland Brewery soon and be sure to tell’em I sent you. If we show them our gratitude for serving gluten-free foods (and beer!), I’m sure they’ll not only add more menu items and gluten-free beer choices, but implement a gluten-free menu at all of their locations. BUT, they have to know that they are serving us…so don’t be shy!

Heartland Brewery Midtown West has been my go-to location in midtown for lunches and happy hours since they launched their gluten-free menu. The staff is really great and very knowledgeable about the gluten-free menu. They hosted an awesome gluten-free happy hour for the NYC Celiac Disease Meetup group and we happily and safely ate a ton of gluten-free goodies. The nachos are awesome!! The announcement about gluten-free beer is very exciting. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks for the update Kelly!

Yes, I’m dairy AND corn-free too. You should be good with the tasty bunless burger and fries. Or the mussels, cobb salad, and maybe you could order the ribs and sub fries for mashed potatoes? The chix wings might not have dairy …but the ranch dressing for dip would. These are my ideas, of course you should call ahead and speak to one of the managers first to make sure. I could only eat the burger due to my corn issues. It was delicious, though. Please report back!

last time i was in town, i went to lilli and loo (amazing dumplings) per your suggestion. please post some g.f. NYC bakery recommendations. here in l.a. there is only babycakes (that i’m aware of). karin w.

Thanks for the tip! I am traveling to NYC (amongst other locations in the USA) in May and it’s great to know of some places before I get there. I’m worried that it will be a struggle and I will have to survive on salad!

On another note I have a question you may be able to answer. I have heard that Budweiser Beer is gluten free. Is this true or is it a myth?

We were spending the day in NYC yesterday. We went to Heartland Brewery and were puzzled because they didn’t have a gluten free menu. They only had Bard’s gluten free beer. They accommodated our diet but it was limited. We had googled on the cell phone “gluten free brewery in Manhattan” and the Heartland Brewery at 1285 6th at 51st street came up. Now today I’ve just realized there are several Heartland Brewerys. So I guess we need another trip into the city!

Wrong location. I was just looking on their website, and at first pulled up the Times Square (same area) menu which didn’t have any markings so I went back to their main page to figure out what I did wrong. It’s only that location.

Hey Kelly, I wanted to follow up with you and see if you have heard anything more about the below mentioned “locally brewed” GF beer? My girlfriend and I were in the midtown Heartland a couple months back and they looked at us like we were crazy when we mentioned it to the bartender. Any updates?

From Kelley’s post Feb 28, 2011:
“And I have a secret to spill: [drumroll] Heartland’s almost ready to launch its very own…locally brewed in Fort Greene…..guess?! Gluten-free beer!!! Whoo Hoo! It should be available in April. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

So, go wet your whistle at the Midtown West Heartland Brewery soon and be sure to tell’em I sent you. If we show them our gratitude for serving gluten-free foods (and beer!), I’m sure they’ll not only add more menu items and gluten-free beer choices, but implement a gluten-free menu at all of their locations. BUT, they have to know that they are serving us…so don’t be shy!

Hey! I just received this from Heartland (and no word on the gf beer yet):

Hi Kelly,

The Heartland Brewery team wanted to let you know that we have now started offering a Gluten-Free menu at our Radio City and Union Square locations. You can find the full menus below with specific labels on what dishes are GF. We have not shared these new menus with anyone else.

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Thanks for stopping by! I'm Kelly Courson and this is where I've shared my gluten-free finds since 2003. The world has been my gluten-free oyster for 14 years now and I love sharing what I've learned in order to help others adapt to a gluten-free diet. Have a look around and feel free to leave a comment. Connecting with people like you is what has kept me going this long! Seriously.
Chow!